Your Money Their Tricks BBC1 8pm

OriolaW

Cars. consumer series

The motor trade comes under the spotlight, as the team reveals how one of Britain's biggest garage chains gets drivers to pay for unnecessary work

May be of interest to some here.

EDIT: Sorry could not find a more appropriate place to post. Mods move if necessary

Strider590

Watched it and to be honest it was all stuff I already knew, I was surprised that other people didn't know.

There were things they said that we're completely wrong too and i'm sure some of the non-trolly people will have spotted the mistakes if they watched it.

The fuel/mpg thing, to be honest people WANT to believe the figures even if they know they're not true. Most people just need an excuse to buy a new car, MPG is just what they'll use to justify it later to their friends/family.

photome

Strider590 wrote: »

Watched it and to be honest it was all stuff I already knew, I was surprised that other people didn't know.

There were things they said that we're completely wrong too and i'm sure some of the non-trolly people will have spotted the mistakes if they watched it.

The fuel/mpg thing, to be honest people WANT to believe the figures even if they know they're not true. Most people just need an excuse to buy a new car, MPG is just what they'll use to justify it later to their friends/family.

MMMMM

You do seem to know lots but the average motorist knows nothing about their car or how gargaes KF in particular treat their customers.

hopefull it will mean many more people will now avoid KF

peter_the_piper

Good show, rarely used the ""fine"" word once in the parking bit. The section on Kwik Fit was very revealing. I know all car companies use the same specs when working out fuel use figures but could they not also use a complete car loaded to simulate 1 passenger and child? problem is it would show just how false the current figures are.

Herzlos

peter_the_piper wrote: »

Good show, rarely used the ""fine"" word once in the parking bit. The section on Kwik Fit was very revealing. I know all car companies use the same specs when working out fuel use figures but could they not also use a complete car loaded to simulate 1 passenger and child? problem is it would show just how false the current figures are.

They don't even need to have the alternator connected, so they've got a long way to go before it becomes realistic.

TradePro

Don't forget that all cars are tested the same way, and all have similar inaccuracies as a result.

Therefore all the cars that are supposed to do 60mpg, would all be rated at 45mpg and so on, there would be no real benefits as a buyer, you would just find that the mpg you would 'like', doesn't actually exist...

On the plus side, this 'cheating' does get cars into lower VED brackets, so at least you save money on your annual 'road tax'.

Soubrette

I'm glad that there is a standard test so that I can compare mpg from different cars. I know the test is under ideal conditions but I think that's better than each car doing their own 'road' test and making comparisons meaningless.

It's all about comparison rather than believing each manufacturers mpg figure.

Strider590

photome wrote: »

MMMMM

You do seem to know lots but the average motorist knows nothing

That about sums it up :rotfl:, but not just me, it also applies to the vast majority of this forums regulars too, although we have our disagreements sometimes, we all love each other really..... Group hug? \o/ (ok maybe not)

Think how many drivers this country has, think how many of those drivers actually frequent forums like this or how many drivers do anything other than pour fuel in, turn the key and go.

Then on top of that, factor in that 90% of the population are utterly stupid..... (to put it bluntly) Intelligence is a product of curiosity, with arrogance and/or ignorance being the direct opposite.

Intelligent drivers are curious people, they want to learn, they realise that the best advice comes from those not being paid to give it.
The stupid, just read the signs outside the tyre/exhaust centre and think "hey, wow a free brakes check!!!".

So how do you educate stupid people? The power of television of course

Soubrette

To be honest the expectation of the average consumer's knowledge is far too much.

I am expected to be an expert on the car I drive, the food I eat, all financial products, any medical issues I may have, the political landscape in general as just a range of examples.

If something goes wrong and I have not done intensive research into the issue then I, the consumer, am deemed by certain people, to have deserved whatever went wrong because I'm stupid or ignorant.

I simply cannot be an expert on everything, sometimes I have to trust what I am being told by companies. It is important that if that trust is broken then I have some way that these issues can be investigated or at least publicised.

TradePro

Strider590 wrote: »

The stupid, just read the signs outside the tyre/exhaust centre and think "hey, wow a free brakes check!!!"

Awesome!

It should be so obvious, but for some reason isn't - people just love free stuff.

iolanthe07

I thought everyone knew that the MPG official figures are laboratory tested and have little to do with real life. Honest John's website has a section where owners put in their MPG figures. Although hardly scientific (most car owners exaggerate their MPG, in my experience), it does at least provide a guide.